Assemblyman Michael Cusick announces he is not running for Congress

Assemblyman Michael Cusick had been considering a run for Congress and said Sunday night that he would not run. (Advance file photo)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Democratic Assemblyman Michael Cusick, the party's assumed front-runner in the special election for Congress, said he is not running.

Cusick (D-Mid-Island) told the Advance Sunday night that he would not run in the race against Republican District Attorney Daniel Donovan for Michael Grimm's old seat.

He had been mulling a run for the last month after Grimm announced he was resigning.

"In recent weeks many residents and leaders in Staten Island and Brooklyn have encouraged me to run for Congress from the 11th District," a statement from Cusick said. "I am humbled and grateful for their confidence and support. After much reflection I have concluded that the best way I can continue to serve my constituents is in the New York State Assembly. I am eagerly looking forward to continuing to lead the fight for toll relief, and to work on important issues like prescription drug abuse and the heroin epidemic and the education tax credit, which expands scholarship and programming opportunities. I am confident that this decision is best for me and my family and the people I represent on Staten Island."

He said recently that he was meeting with those interested in the seat and narrowing down the field. The committee's executive board will recommend a candidate around the end of the month, or beginning of next month and will hold a convention to select the nominee after the governor sets the special election date.

Under the U.S. Constitution, Gov. Andrew Cuomo must call for a special election to fill the vacated seat. The election must take place within 70 to 80 days of when he announces it. However, the governor has discretion as to when to call for a special election, which could prevent it from taking place until the next general election in November.

Gentile has been a Brooklyn councilmember since 2003 and he represented parts of Staten Island's North Shore in the state Senate from 1997 to 2002.

Other candidates who expressed interest in the Democratic Party's nomination for the race are former Congressman Michael McMahon, Brooklyn Assemblyman William Colton and Robert Holst, an electrician and co-founder of the Middle Class Action Project.